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Sinking Civilization: Downtown Manila

By Madonna Virola, Womens Feature Service

On November 1 tropical storm, Typhoon Mirinae, ravaged Manila and the nearby northern provinces, leaving at least 20 people dead, in a region that is still flooded from three earlier, back-to-back storms. Mirinae was the fourth storm to lash the region since late September - the devastating Typhoon Ketsana had struck on September 26 - and has brought on further hardship and misery to the people. Among them it is the women and children, already struggling to cope with the previous disasters, who are facing the greatest hardships. As many as 87,000 people who fled during prior storms are still living in temporary shelters.

Rema Donasco, 37, is a mother in distress. She rushes to people coming into Silangan Elementary School asking for help: "My ten-year-old son Harry has been missing... We don't know where to get help. Our houses are covered with mud and several homes have been washed away. President Arroyo and everybody, we beg for your help. We need medicines, water, rice and other supplies, especially for the children."

Donasco is a survivor of typhoon Ketsana ("Ondoy" to locals). As per the Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA), despite being termed as a 'baby storm', the accompanying rainfall caused the worst floods that the Philippines has seen in four decades. PAG-ASA chief, Dr Prisco Nilo, reported to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo through the National Disaster Coordinating Council that Ketsana dumped a total of 455 millimetres of rain - a month's downpour - in 24 hours.

When the typhoons struck Manila, strong floodwaters washed away its shanties, piled up cars and turned roads into raging rivers. Many residents were forced to climb on to rooftops for refuge. Military helicopters and rubber boats had to be deployed to rescue people stranded in their homes, cars and even on the streets.

According to some reports, around two million people have been affected by these natural disaster. Some 400,000 people are living in evacuation centres, while property worth billions has been destroyed. While thousands are still missing, a few bodies were identified and handed over to relatives. Parts of Manila and surrounding low-lying cities have been submerged in brown coloured water filled with floating garbage and other debris.

The government has declared a "state of calamity" and everywhere one looks there's grief and misery. At the gate of Silangan Elementary School, as a truck of the armed forces arrives with relief goods, including food, water, medicines and clothes, women rush to grab their share, even as they pacify their crying infants. A few feet away, some scraggly older children are busy playing games, completely oblivious to the tragedy that has struck their lives.

Next to the school, in a 500 square metre covered basketball court, more than 600 evacuees are lying on the cement floor, despite the stink that envelopes the court because of the toilets nearby. There are just two main toilets and four portalets for all those who are living there.

Across from the basketball court is a health centre being run by relief volunteers, including doctors. There are several people suffering from diseases like leptospirosis, a bacterial infection contracted by swallowing or absorbing - through cuts in the skin - floodwater.

As a mother rushes in with her baby, who is very pale and is shivering from fever, Dr Placido Calimag, Jr., officer of the Philippine Medical Society, remarks, "The children are most vulnerable to pulmonary diseases, fever and diarrhoea due to contaminated water."

Even the elderly have been forced to rough it out. Felisa Manalac, 73, who suffers from arthritis, recalls her ordeal: "During the floods, when I peeped through the window, I saw people on top of their roofs, I just closed my eyes. My arthritis was affecting me badly so I was hauled out of the area because people may walk on me." Manalac hopes the government would help them to relocate for a "new and better life."

Teresita del Socorro, a teacher at Silangan Elementary School, agrees with Manalac that now the government needs to not only take charge of the deteriorating situation but also learn lessons for the future. "The local government should be better prepared for disaster management, especially with climate change. Times are unpredictable and the country is frequented by typhoons," she says.

But the people need to do their bit as well, feels Sheryll Arevalo, 23, a volunteer leader of Silangan Youth Federation. "You see the huge amount of garbage around. People should learn to segregate and properly dispose their garbage because they clog the waterways. This only adds to the calamity."

Along with other volunteers Arevalo gives those interested in contributing funds to ease the suffering of the typhoon-affected, a tour of the evacuation centre and informs them about the plight of the community. She is doing her bit. Says Arevalo, "In my small way, I am happy to be able to ease some pain of the survivors."

Womens Feature Service covers developmental, political, social and economic issues in India and around the globe. To get these articles for your publication, contact WFS at the www.wfsnews.org website.